While Syracuse Football gears up for a Halloween showdown with North Carolina, Syracuse Basketball wrapped up exhibition play in a 75-57 victory over Pace. Despite beating the Setters by 18 points, the win was anything but convincing.
To say the Orange got off to a slow start would be an understatement. At the half, SU held a miniscule 27-25 edge over its Division II opponent. The ‘Cuse even trailed as late as seven minutes into the second half, with Pace ahead by one. Fortunately, a 31-12 closing run secured the win and put Pace away.
There’s no short of alarming figures from this game for Syracuse. In the sloppy victory, the Orange shot a meager 24% from three-point range. Moreover, they were outrebounded by the Setters 31-26. Pace also held a 13-9 advantage on fastbreak points, and a 20% advantage from the charity stripe.
Looking past the poor performance for Syracuse overall, there were some positives. After missing the team’s exhibition game in Buffalo, Sadiq White cracked the lineup. The 6’9 freshman put up 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. Sophomore Donnie Freeman led the team in scoring with 22 points and added 9 rebounds.
Next up for SU is its season opener against Binghamton at the Dome on November 3rd. They’ll then host three more non-conference opponents—Delaware State, Drexel, and Monmouth—before heading to Las Vegas. That trip will prove to be a major test, as the Orange are slated to face defending national runner-up Houston and No. 19 Kansas. Syracuse will have another tough matchup right after the tournament, hosting No. 18 Tennessee at the Dome. In short, the team has no shortage of challenging games early in the season.
Was their most recent performance their best? Hopefully not. However, the Orange will have a little time to get things together before they kick off an exciting stretch of their highly anticipated season.
